Many research organizations/academic institutions were and are being founded in many parts of our country by exemplary men

of vision. In the early 20th century there were great scholars and savants who contributed their mite for the cause of Indian Culture, notable among them being Prof. R.G. Bhandarkar from the Western part of India, Mm.Ganganath Jha from the North and Mm. Prof.S.Kuppuswami Sastri from the South . The admirers and students of these great personalities proudly and aptly founded educational and research Institutes in their names. These institutions are revered by scholars not only from India but all parts of the globe, for their sustained work in the field of Indological studies. It may be pointed here that while the other two institutions have been duly recognized by the respective State and Central Governments, the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, with all its rich and enviable contribution to the field of Sanskritic and Indological studies has not been fortunate till date, to have received the recognition it deserves by the Governments at the Centre and the State. Organisation The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute was established in 1945 as a fitting tribute to the great scholar Mahamahopadhyaya, Darsana Kalanidhi, Vidyavacaspati, Prof.S.Kuppuswami Sastri, who combined in himself the rare combination of depth of traditional scholarship and modern research acumen. Many great stalwarts and statesmen like Dr.Sir.S.Radhakrishnan (Former President of India), Rt. Honble V.S.Srinivasa Sastri, Padmabhushan Sir K.Balasubrahmanya Iyer, Padmabhushan Dr.V.Raghavan, Dr.S.S.Janaki and scores of other eminent men of letters have adorned different positions to raise this Institute to become an internationally reputed organization in the field of Sanskrit and Indology. Library: It houses about 60,000 books, research journals and periodicals from India and abroad, related to Sanskrit and Indological studies. The library is proud of the donations of personal collections of savants like Mm. Prof. S. Kuppuswami Sastri, Rt. Honble V.S. Srinivasa Sastri, Sir. S. Radhakrishnan, Sri.T.R.Venkatarama Sastri, Prof. M. Hiriyanna, Prof. K. V Rangaswamy Iyengar , Sri K.Balasubramania Iyer, Dr.V.Raghavan and Dr.S.S.Janaki.

Research Affiliated to the University of Madras, during the last two decades, the Institute has produced many M.Phil and Ph.D. scholars. All the three academic staff of the Institute are qualified to provide guidance to scholars joining these courses. Accordingly, based on the rule of the University of Madras, that each professor can guide 8 scholars at a time, at present there are 24 Ph.D. research scholars pursuing their research work in different fields like Literature, Language, Grammar, Yoga, Psychology, Law and Jurisprudence, Philosophy, Sports and games and so on. It may be observed here that this shows the faith of the scholars in this institution. We are proud to record in this connection an achievement by a research scholar of the Institute who took a 16th century algebra text in Sanskrit for her Ph.D. degree. The thesis

was much acclaimed and the examiners recommended for immediate publication. Our recent publication Bijapallava of Krsna Daivajna A critical study is the outcome of this research work. The Institute is now trying to move away from the beaten track and search the new avenues like Women.Legal Rights in our ancient Dharmasastra texts, Dream Motif, Nephology (science of clouds), Caturyuga calendar, Svarodaya science (a peculiar method of breath control), Town planning. Sanskrit Literature possesses abundant information on these. Besides, the Institute has remained a home for scholars of many foreign countries from all parts of Europe, USA, Canada, Asia, Australia and South America. The Institute has signed an MOU with Oslo University, Norway for conducting Sanskrit classes to their graduate students every alternate semester. Publications: Unlike many other research institutions/colleges, the Institute has been publishing the Journal of Oriental Research periodically from its inception till date and it is internationally well known. The Institute has also published more than 100 books/monographs on different branches like Language, Literature, Philosophy, Yoga, Religion, Aesthetics, Drama and Dramaturgy, Fine Arts like Music and Dance, Bhagavadgita, Vedic studies, Political studies, Tamil Grammar, Spoken Sanskrit, Epics, Puranas and so on.

This is a remarkable contribution by the Institute, a body with no stable financial support, which is yet to be matched by institutions in the country that possess Govt. financial support. Seminars/Conferences: The Institute has organized more than 300 lectures and several national/international seminars/conferences, including those sponsored by the University of Madras, Govt. of India, Indian Council for Philosophical Research, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi and Sahitya Akademi; established traditional and modern scholars have personally participated in these. Future Men of wisdom, with discerning mind can see that the Institute has had a glorious tradition and is having an allround development. All these have been possible due to the dedicated and devoted service by handful of scholars. The temporary financial assistance received from some philanthropists, from India and from USA and the non-regular grants from Govt. of India have sustained the activities of the Institute. The time has come now to a stage, when the Institute has to put forward its feet, expand its wings towards the future. It is our responsibility to preserve the treasures of knowledge contained in ancient literature and culture and pass them on to the future generation.

The Institute at present has only 3 qualified full-time academic staff and 5 nonacademic staff and 3 part-time academic and non-academic staff all working with remuneration far less than their counterparts in colleges and universities. Also, the Institute is not in a position to give any scholarship to any of the research scholars. The authorities of the Institute would like to encourage Sanskrit studies and employ a few more qualified scholars from younger generation, train them and make them march forward in this field.

The approximate annual expenditure is about 1,00,00,000/- (approx $200,000). Hence the corpus fund needed for the smooth running of the institution would be Rs.10,00,00,000 (approx. equivalent to 2 Million dollars). The interest of 9-10% arising out of this corpus would be used for the annual expenditure. We shall remain grateful to you, and would gladly acknowledge the assistance provided by you through our devoted and dedicated service to the cause of Sanskrit which is our best national heritage. Thanking you, Yours sincerely, (V.KAMESWARI) Director